Points Of Interest
The City of Hayward is known as the “Heart of the Bay” for its centrality and ease of travel to anywhere else in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is especially true for Downtown Hayward, which not only benefits from the proximity of its adjacent major freeways, but also hosts its very own BART station that affords it the instant advantages of a transit-oriented commercial district.
Standing as a regal reminder of Hayward’s past, the Old City Hall site adjacent to Mission Blvd. and across from the new Heritage Park continues to be a focal point in organizing and branding the downtown area. Having already inspired the current City of Hayward logo design, the building’s edifice also now serves as the logo of the Downtown Hayward Improvement Association.
Looming derelict over Foothill Blvd. in the northernmost point of our district, the Old City Center site was recently approved for demolition by the Hayward City Council and will be subsequently be dismantled floor-by-floor over the coming months as the project is cleared for future redevelopment. The site sits juxtaposed to the Lincoln Landing mixed-use development, which is being constructed on the former Mervyns department store headquarters site just across the street on Foothill Boulevard, a telling illustration to the revitalization of Downtown Hayward.
Completed in 1998, the current Hayward City Hall sits directly next to the Hayward BART Station and serves as the site of several downtown specific events and holiday festivities, including the weekly Saturday Farmer’s Market on Watkins Street. As a partner stakeholder in the Downtown Hayward Community Benefit District, the City of Hayward and their strategic parcels should be thought of as anchors for local economic activity, as they consistently bring regular customers to the downtown area.
The newest addition to our downtown district, the recently opened Hayward Public Library is sure to elevate the profile of our downtown district by its sheer grandeur and centrality. Apart from its sleek and environmentally sustainable design, the library also hosts a local corner café and sits directly across the street from the recently renovated Heritage Plaza, which when opened will serve as the new focal gathering point for the Downtown Hayward community.
Still under construction directly across the street from the newly opened Hayward Public Library, Heritage Plaza is being deigned to be the future nexus point of the Downtown Hayward community. The Plaza will include a 25,000-square foot central event lawn and an 11,000-square foot paved plaza along C Street, accommodating gatherings of all sizes for future events. The parcel the Plaza sits on dates back to the formative days of Hayward in the 1840’s, when it was part of the homestead of rancher Don Guillermo Castro. When Don Castro subdivided and sold his land in the 1850’s (which created the street layout of downtown Hayward still in use today), he dedicated Heritage Plaza for use as a public plaza into perpetuity.
Situated at the corner of Mission Blvd. and B Street, Newman Park functions as an intimate public space right in the heart of the hustle and bustle of Downtown Hayward. Originally gifted to the City of Hayward from the Hayward Rotary Club, the park is an immaculate public space and the DHIA hopes to collaborate with the Rotary Foundation in the near future to enhance the park even further by adding hanging flowerpots and movable tables and chairs.
Anchoring the southern-most triangular block of our district, the Portuguese Centennial Park is one of the most unique and ornate public spaces within our downtown district. Comprised of tiles, stones, and light standards donated by the City of Faro (Portugal), the public park was a joint effort by the City of Hayward and its sister city (the City of Faro) and constructed by two Portuguese artists, Americo Marcelino and Jose Martins.